I used Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece. The color is Cotton Ball. The color is more of a cream. Lovely, in my opinion.

I used size 4 needles. Yeah, I know. Kind of small, eh? However, I’ve discovered that smaller needles make the stitches tighter and, hence, the cables “pop.” You want the cables to stand out. All of that hard work shouldn’t go unnoticed!

Now, for the fun part. The pattern.

For such a small project, this proved to be one huge challenge. I cast on this pattern first. After completing a couple of repeats, I found myself unhappy with the pattern. Maybe it was the size of the cable…just too big for my liking.

So, I went back to the drawing board and began the hunt for another pattern. I eventually landed on this. I cast on eagerly.

I completed one pattern repeat and made an interesting discovery. The pattern was riddled with mistakes.

If you work the pattern as is, you’ll come up with a garter-style cable. I also realized that I had to go down several needle sizes to obtain a tighter cable.

So, I sat down and rewrote part of the pattern.

A brief explanation of how the pattern works. The rows begin and end with K1, P1, K1 so that you are knitting a pretty Moss Stitch border. It’s the eight center stitches that you need to pay closer attention to. The cable is worked on only one row…the last of every pattern repeat.

One other tricky thing was figuring out how I was going to seam the thing. It’s not worked in the round. I hate seaming but gave it a valiant effort on my first napkin ring. The result was hideous.

So, I tried Plan B.

I used a Provisional Cast on, following Amy’s video here. After working the pattern, I tried a three needle bind off. Once again, the seam was not to my liking.

On to Plan C.

Once again, I cast on using Amy’s Provisional Cast On. After working the pattern, I seamed it up using the Kitchener Stitch.

Voila! Success! You could hardly discern where the ends met. This is, ultimately, how I completed the rest of my rings. I had it down to a science, completing each ring in under an hour (per ring, I mean).

Here is the pattern as it should have been written:

Cast on 14 stitches, either using a provisional cast on or a regular one.

1. K1, P1, K1, P2, K4, P2, K1, P1, K1

2. K1, P1, K3, P4, K3, P1, K1

3 and 4: Repeat Rows 1 and 2

5. K1, P1, K1, P2, C2F, P2, K1, P1, K1

Because you’re ending on a RS row, your next series of pattern repeats will actually total six rows.

1. K1, P1, K3, P4, K3, P1, K1

2. K1, P1, K1, P2, K4, P2, K1, P1, K1

3 and 4. Repeat Rows 1 and 2

5. Repeat Row 1

6. K1, P1, K1, P2, C2F, P2, K1, P1, K1

Work the above six rows until you reach the length you want. I worked a total of six pattern repeats in addition to the first five rows.

Don't downplay your hard work and ingenuity, Nathalie, those really are pretty. I'm swiping the pattern, they're so pretty!

Can you imagine them for your Christmas table in a beautiful shade of deep red or green?

Oh, I'm not downplaying it. I just like to give credit where it's due. My ideas sometimes are not my own. I love the fact that I can see my knitting progressing though. The ability to recognize errors in a pattern and fix them reflects growth.

And yes, these would be PERFECT for a Christmas or Thanksgiving table. My daughter purchased the napkins for me last week. I gave her free reign with the color. She called me, told me the colors the store (World Market) had, and I told her to get the ones she liked best. They are going to look very pretty at Thanksgiving.

Nathalie...you got me motivated. Our spring tea is in March, so too soon to work on, but I'm determined to do a table for the Christmas dinner. I love your napkin rings and am going to start early and get some decorations knitted and ready. You are my inspiration.

Kris

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